sonny liston interview

He was also seeking to prove himself after his two embarrassing and suspicious losses to Ali. ", It was later theorized that a substance used on Liston's cuts by Joe Pollino, his cut man, may have caused the irritation. "A blues song just for fighters: The legend of Sonny Liston. There were plenty of tough questions after the first fight for Liston, too, namely, why didnt he come out for another round? He could have remained typecast as a musician performing rock songs. Interview with Floyd Patterson - Washington University in St. Louis In a pre-fight poll, 43 of 46 sportswriters picked Liston to win by knockout. "And I suppose Sonny Liston always stuck with me. We cooked up that shoulder thing on the spot. ", The Liston song appears on an album called "Shangri-La." Mark Knopfler's tribute to Liston, "Song for Sonny Liston", appeared on his 2004 album Shangri-La. Clay confessed later he had been hurt by the punch, but Liston was unable to press his advantage home. The organization was seen as an extremist anti-white people hate group and opponents of desegregation and Martin Luther King Jr. Clays propensity for self-promotion and controversy seemed to fit in with the groups inflammatory rhetoric. [101], Liston played a fist fighter in the 1965 film Harlow, made a cameo appearance in the 1968 film Head, which starred The Monkees, and played the part of The Farmer in the 1970 film Moonfire, which starred Richard Egan and Charles Napier. Frank Mir was around that height and was noticeably taller than Carwin. ", Hutchison, Phillip J. [37] Frustrated, Liston changed his management in 1961 and applied pressure through the media by remarking that Patterson, who had faced mostly white challengers since becoming champion, was drawing the color line against his own race. Sit down!' Maybe he was. His fists measured 15 inches (38cm) around, the largest of any heavyweight champion. Less than 10 days later, he was Muhammad Ali, a name given him to Elijah Muhammad, the head of the Nation of Islam. "The public is not with me. Asked by a young white reporter why he was not fighting for freedom in the South, Liston deadpanned, "I ain't got no dog-proof ass. Lennox is a conqueror? Liston was overwhelmed by an abusive father, confrontations with the law, underworld managers and a change in African-American culture represented by Ali, Knopfler said. Half a mile above and beyond the shrine, looking down from the summit of the mountain, is a statue of the Sacred Heart. He said they found Liston lying on his bed with a needle sticking out of his arm. . Clay brought Malcolm X along with him to Miami, and amid the controversy, the fight was almost canceled. During a ringside interview after the fight, Terrellwith his swollen eye and deflated egowould later say he respected all boxers. Remembering One Of Boxing's Storied Bouts : NPR Some found it suspicious that authorities could not locate any drug paraphernalia that Liston presumably would have needed to inject the fatal dose, such as a spoon to cook the heroin or a tourniquet to wrap around his arm. Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance. Sonny Liston - Death, Muhammad Ali & Children - Biography With the proceeds, he traveled to St. Louis to live with his mother. In the months ahead of the fight, Muhammad Ali went all sorts of routes to get into Sonny Liston's head. He was scared of the black-power movement. [30], Liston became the No. Patterson's fatal mistake was that he "did not punch enough and frequently tried to clinch with Liston. (2) Professional gambler Lem Banker insists that Liston was murdered by drug dealers with whom he'd become involved. Unfortunately for Martin, however, his career ended after that fight due to a detached retina he suffered during the bout. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. It became known as the phantom punch and has been the subject of controversy and speculation for the last 55 years. I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' [52][53] It was the first time since 1919when Jack Dempsey defeated Jess Willardthat a world heavyweight champion had quit on his stool. And the Muslims were coming up. Carwin probably wasn't even that tall. Entire books have been written about the fight, and one, released in 2015, sought to end the suggestion that Liston took another fall. Sonny Liston Vs Floyd Patterson What If There Had Been A Third Fight ", Knopfler compared writing a song about Liston to the work a sculptor performs on a statue. Sonny Liston: The mysterious death that haunts boxing Liston knocked out Hermann Schreibauer of West Germany at 2:16 of the first round. Sonny Liston fought for only $10,000 during his career. "But can he hit!" For his part, Liston said that the referees inability to keep track of time doomed him, as he didnt know when to get up from the mat. "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. Also in 1970, Liston appeared on an episode of the TV series Love, American Style and in a television commercial for Braniff Airlines with Andy Warhol.[12][102]. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight and had entered the bout with a lame shoulder. Machen's mobility enabled him to go the distance but he was clearly outpointed despite Liston being penalised for a low blow in the 11th round. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." The fight ranks as one of the shortest heavyweight title bouts in history. Sonny Liston | Boxing's Most Intimidating and Unwanted Champion Rainy Day Boxing 302K subscribers 5.6M views 1 year ago Join Rainy Day Boxing for an in depth career tribute to arguably the most. So I went down. The torn tendon had bled down into the mass of the biceps, swelling and numbing the arm. Interviewing and trash-talk have both gone through some tremendous evolutions, havent they? [25][26], In 1960 Liston won five more fights, including a rematch with Williams, who lasted only two rounds. Authorities theorized that he was undressing for bed when he fell over backward with such force that he broke the rail of the bench. After two rounds, Wilson had taken enough. The FBI was on the hunt for evidence for match-fixing, given Listons mob ties mobsters still owned much of his fight promotion contract and the sports shady business model. This interview is missing a "BOOOOOOOMZQUAD!!" "[18] The only backers willing to put up the necessary money for him to turn professional were close to underworld figures, and Liston supplemented his income by working for racketeers as an intimidator-enforcer. "He would do everything to avoid taking shots." Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. You could feel the deflation, see the look of hurt in his eyes. Liston also appears in the sequel, Blood's a Rover. "[57] Those findings were confirmed in a formal investigation immediately after the fight by Florida State Attorney Richard Gerstein, who also noted that there was little doubt that Liston went into the fight with a sore or lame shoulder. In the 2015 British crime film Legend, Liston is played by Mark Theodore in a scene where gangster Reggie Kray poses for a picture with the boxer. The film starred Ving Rhames as Liston and was produced by Rhames, Hassain Zaidi and Marek Posival. Tocco called the police, and they broke into the house. "I'm doing a portrait of a life, really, in a way, so you are trying to get the whole thing into just a few verses. Sports Illustrated writer Gilbert Rogin wrote that "that final left hook crashed into Patterson's cheek like a diesel rig going downhill, no brakes." But audiences attending Knopfler's concerts around North America this summer are hearing and responding favorably to a song of a different genre, a bluesy narrative ballad called "Song for Sonny Liston," about the troubled fighter who preceded Muhammad Ali as heavyweight champion in the early 1960's. Because of that, Cage may have thought Sonny was an informant and shot him with a hot dose as retribution. Audiences at home were confused and outraged. The highly-anticipated May 1965 rematch between the heavyweight champions almost didn't happen. Liston did eventually rise from the mat, but soon after, the referee broke up the two boxers once again the former champion had been down for more than 10 seconds, ending the fight. The photo captures the champions exhortations, with all the fire and passion and dynamic physicality that made him such a phenomenon. Sonny Liston became world heavyweight champion in 1962 and fought Muhammad Ali twice In January 1971, former heavyweight champion of the world Sonny Liston was found dead at his Las Vegas. . with Sonny - Traduo em portugus - Reverso Context But others contend he just was not the same Liston. Don't confuse shyness with dullness, Sonny was reluctant to talk to the press - the always painted a bad picture of him.Dwight Muhammad Qawi Braxton ATG Philly Joe Frazier Bernard HopkinsTags:pernell whitaker jersey joe walcott louis julio chavez evander holyfield lennox lewis felix sturm oscar de la hoya floyd mayweather miguel cotto marquez manny pacquiao pacman boxing boxer ko knockout tribute robbery mike tyson rocky marciano oscar de la hoya manny pacquiao foreman fight miguel cotto dead death muhammad ali cassius mike tyson clay lennox lewis eric morales barrera floyd mayweather fedor emelianenko ufc boxing ko k.o. [60] The extent to which Liston's heavy drinking and possible drug use may have contributed to his surprisingly poor performances against Ali is not known.[15]. The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing & Las Vegas Pan publisher; 2017. For confetti we can use torn-up arrest warrants." [10][11] It has been suggested Liston himself may not have known what year he was born, as he was not precise on the matter. [21], Liston made his professional debut on September 2, 1953, knocking out Don Smith in the first round in St. Louis, where he fought his first five bouts. Naturally, they decided that Ali would take on Liston. "[35], U.S. President John F. Kennedy also did not want Patterson to fight Liston. Press J to jump to the feed. 'What's My Name| Muhammad Ali' Proves Why Ali's The Greatest - VIBE.com (4) Liston was supposed to take a dive when he fought Chuck Wepner six months earlier, and killing him was payback for his failure to do so. December 1963 extended Interview with Champion Sonny Liston - discusses We had a return bout clause with Clay, but if you say your guy just quit, who is gonna get a return bout? "He was scared, he was scared of so many things," Knopfler said. "He had a left like Henry's hammer," Knopfler sings, "a right like Betty Bamalam. Maule, Tex (March 9, 1964). Then again, you can also have guys like Ali or Mike Tyson. "Yes, it was good and honest". To the rest of the world, it would be known as "The Phantom Punch." That shot, which Ali dropped Sonny Liston with on May 25, 1965, was far from a phantom. Also, McDonough did not bang on the canvas or motion a number count with his fingers. At one point, Clay was wiping his eyes with his right hand while extending his left arm"like a drunk leaning on a lamppost" Bert Sugar wroteto keep Liston at bay. Genuinely kind mobster who had been convicted of armed robbery and assault. Midway through the first round, Liston threw a left jab and Ali went over it with a fast right, knocking the former champion down. [51], Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. Beat me to it! "Nat Fleischer [editor of The Ring] was sitting beside McDonough and he was waving his hands, too, saying it was over." He was still a world-ranked boxer when he died in mysterious circumstances in 1970. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Gary Robinov, director of Raising Ali, a film about the 50th anniversary of the heavyweight boxing match between Muhammed Ali and Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine.. [73] The bout was stopped after the ninth round due to cuts over both of Wepner's eyes. Although Liston was widely regarded as unbeatable, he lost the title in 1964 to Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), who entered as a 71 underdog. It was more likely that Liston was out of shape according to a story in Esquire at the time, Liston trained as normal, running around five miles a day, eating hot dogs and drinking beer. He was also possibly much older than his listed 32 years than anything else Liston was the second-youngest of 25 children to parents who didnt exactly keep records of birthdates. "There's no doubt that he was mean," Knopfler said of Liston. Rocky Marciano, the former heavyweight champion, said that he appreciated the punchs strength upon re-examination. The most iconic photo in boxing history documents the knockout that almost nobody saw happen.

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